EMMITTSBURG – Standing at the bottom of a 14-foot hole in the Lourdes National Shrine Grotto, John Funk dumped a pile of leafy mud into a large bucket.
On a clear autumn day, the 32-year-old aspiring priest worked with fellow seminarians from nearby Mount St. Mary’s Seminary to help pull the muddy load out of the tunnel with ropes.
The basin, which normally holds 120,000 gallons of water surrounding a peaceful statue of the Virgin Mary, was emptied as part of a routine cleaning.
“Here they come!” one of the seminarians yelled, lowering a bucket to refill it after his friend had dumped the organic debris on the forest slope.
Funk is one of five first-year seminarians in the Archdiocese of Baltimore who are beginning their preparation for the priesthood in a newly launched “preparatory” phase.
The additional retreats promoted by Pope Francis focus less on academics and more on cultivating virtue, a harmonious prayer life and a spirit of service and fraternity.
The seminarians live and pray together while studying the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and they also do a lot of physical work, such as weeding the cave and helping with local farms, tilling the soil and planting garlic bulbs.
Taking a break from his sludge-hauling duties, Funk said it makes perfect sense for future priests to do manual labor as part of their formation.
“I think Jesus set the example of a priest by being a blue-collar worker and by being the adopted son of a carpenter, a blue-collar worker,” said Funk, who grew up in St. Louis Parish in Clarksville. “I think Jesus wants priests who have a blue-collar work ethic and are willing to get their hands dirty for the people.”
Funk’s work today is of a completely different kind than his previous life.
After graduating from The Catholic University of Washington with a degree in Media Studies, Funk worked in the film industry in Atlanta and Los Angeles, first as a production assistant and then as an assistant editor, camera editor and assistant director. His film credits include five films starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
As he evaluated his vocation to the priesthood, Funk visited various religious orders, worked with the Salesian Mission in Sierra Leone, where he taught English and produced videos for Salesians and others, and volunteered in an orphanage in Mexico.
“I feel very at peace and happy in my situation because I prayed really hard about why I want to be a priest,” the bearded seminarian said. “I felt like Jesus gave me a strong desire to just be close to people and to be with the people I’m called to serve.”
Rother House
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary currently has 29 preparatory seminary students, including five from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as students from nine dioceses across the United States.
First-year seminarians live in St. Stanley Lowther Formation House, named for the Oklahoma priest and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary graduate who was killed while serving as a missionary in Guatemala, and located in a recently renovated wing of St. Joseph House on the grounds of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton National Shrine.
The space, which the seminary rents from the Daughters of Charity, was originally built in 1964 as a home for more than 300 Daughters of Charity, many of whom received their initial education in religious life here. Archbishop William E. Lowry blessed and dedicated Rother House in September.
“The purpose of preparatory education is to give students a solid foundation in human and spiritual formation,” said Father Andrew Baker, rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. “It is the first step students take before embarking on the more rigorous academic life at the seminary where they will study philosophy and theology.”
Father Stephen Ross, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said many factors play into the number of years a man spends in seminary. Currently, seminarians typically spend one year in preparation, two years studying philosophy and four years studying theology, Father Ross said.
Many of the men who come to seminary today are influenced by the broader culture, Baker said. They sometimes come from wounded homes or were raised without a strong Catholic identity. The year of preparatory education helps strengthen their understanding and practice of the faith, he said.
At Rother House, quiet meditation, prayer, Mass and Eucharistic adoration are held daily. The program intentionally limits seminarians’ access to electronic devices. Instead, future priests are encouraged to use the time to get to know one another and to grow in virtue and faith. In addition to studying Scripture and catechesis, seminarians hear guest lectures on topics such as St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.
“The idea is that when you leave here you should be biblical literate, you should be able to read the Bible and pray, and you should have a basic sense and knowledge of the spiritual life — how God works in the soul and how we open ourselves to God,” said Father Daniel Hanley, coordinator of Mount St. Mary’s preparatory programs.
Father Hanley arrived at Mount St. Mary’s more than a year ago from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he helped develop the latest version of the bishops’ “Program for Priestly Formation,” which includes guidelines for the implementation of preparation in the United States and outlines standards for human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation.
While some U.S. dioceses already have programs in place similar to those Pope Francis called for in his Propaedeutic phase, the approach is new to most parts of the country.
“Exactly what I wanted”
Ryan Gervais, a parishioner of St. Clare’s Church in Essex for 23 years, said the year of preparatory education at Mount St. Mary’s was “exactly” what he needed as he discerned a vocation to the priesthood.
“I know it’s wonderful for me and many of my classmates to have the opportunity to spend so much time in prayer, deepen our relationship with Christ and develop fraternal love before beginning our more formal studies,” said Gervais, who considered several religious communities before deciding to become a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
A mechanical engineering major from the University of Maryland, College Park, Gervais worked as a fire/paramedic for the Riverdale Volunteer Department in Prince George’s County before attending seminary. He also served homeless people on Baltimore’s streets and considered becoming an urban missionary with Source of All Hope outreach, based at the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.
A few years ago, during a weekday Mass at Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Peace Church in Middle River, Father Kevin Mueller encouraged Gervais to consider the priesthood. For months, Gervais prayed about the priesthood, and then he felt an “unmistakable invitation” from Christ to help rebuild the church.
“This was right around the time the sexual abuse scandals were starting to emerge,” Gervais recalled. “I quickly realized that rebuilding the church isn’t necessarily just about rebuilding the church as an institution. The church lives in us, Christ lives in our hearts. Rebuilding the people is rebuilding the church.”
He said he wants others to experience Christ’s healing, love and mercy.
Father Ross sees the preparatory stage of formation as a gift to the priesthood.
“I don’t think there was anything missing from the formation program before this new program,” the vocations director said, “but this one is much more intentional, clearly declaring from the beginning that we want to focus on what is most important: prayer and service. It’s very sharply focused on what is essential to being a priest.”
Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
Also see: Homecoming: First-year seminary students return to historic Paca Street location
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